Islamic Jihad: Sneaky, Ruthless, Living To Kill And Die In Bloody Hate

November 3, 1986|By United Press International

It is widely considered the most daring and fearfully innovative terrorist group in the Middle East, if not the world. Its strengths are its ruthlessness and a strict code of secrecy that makes some experts doubt its existence.

The Islamic Jihad jihad means holy war was born in the Moslem fundamentalist renaissance of the late 1970s that swept Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power in Iran. It lives on the suffering, bloodshed and deprivation of the troubled Middle East. Its leader and number of followers are unknown.

This lack of intelligence has made some experts say they believe the Islamic Jihad is just a name used by a number of radical Shiite Moslem groups directed by Iran rather than a single organization. Tehran has denied that it is in any way involved.

With its release of David Jacobsen, 55, held hostage by Jihad for 17 months, two Americans still are believed held by the group. They were kidnapped shortly after Jihad began its terror in February 1984, when Moslem gunmen seized control of west Beirut. It is holding four French hostages as well.

For the Americans, it demands the release of 17 Shiites jailed in Kuwait for bomb attacks on the U.S. and French embassies, a living compound for U.S. diplomats and three Kuwaiti targets in the gulf state in December 1983.

The Reagan administration has refused to negotiate and Kuwaiti officials say they will not free the fundamentalists, who carried out the attacks in the name of Al Daawa Al Islamiyah, or Islamic Call, the forerunner of the Islamic Jihad.

The Islamic Jihad said in October 1985 that it killed U.S. Embassy political officer William Buckley -- the first American kidnapped in west Beirut. No body was recovered, but Syria and U.S. officials have said they fear he is dead.

For the French hostages, it wants Paris to improve relations with Tehran. In March, Jihad said it killed French researcher Michel Seurat in retaliation for French policies favoring Iraq. No body was found, but officials believe he is dead.

Some intelligence reports have linked the Islamic Jihad with the pro- Iranian Moslem fundamentalist Hezbollah, or Party of God, but party leaders deny any involvement.

Before and since the kidnappings, the Islamic Jihad has claimed reponsibility for a string of explosions in the region -- specializing in attacks by suicide bombers.

Kuwaiti ruler Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al Sabah was injured May 25, 1985, when a suicide bomber slammed his vehicle into a motorcade and detonated explosives, killing three people.

The group became known April 18, 1983, with the suicide truck bombing of the U.S. Embassy in west Beirut that killed 63 people, including 17 Americans. In the bloodiest Islamic Jihad operation, two suicide truck bombers demolished the U.S. Marine Corps and the French military headquarters at the Beirut airport, killing 242 U.S. and 58 French servicemen, shortly after dawn Oct. 23, 1984.

On Sept. 20, 1984, two suicide bombers sped past guards and detonated a truckload of explosives in front of the U.S. Embassy annex in a suburb of Christian east Beirut, killing two Americans and at least nine other people.

The Islamic Jihad had warned of the intended attack on a U.S. target two weeks before.

''We fulfill our promise. Not a single American will stay on Lebanese soil,'' an Islamic Jihad caller told a Western news agency. ''Our heroes are prepared to give their lives to destroy vital American or Zionist institutions in the Middle East.''